In the lobby of the Pittsburgh City-County building Thursday night, over one hundred residents and non-residents voiced their opinions to council members on much-debated gun legislation in an emotionally charged public hearing.

Pittsburgh City Council is finding opposition for its much debated gun control legislation closer to home, from Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala.

In a letter to Councilman Corey O’Connor (D-District 5)— the representative for the neighborhood where the Tree of Life shooting occurred — Zappala, a Democrat up for reelection this year, stated that while he understood the desire to curb gun violence, the city lacked the authority to do so.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released a special report on firearm safety which outlines several new ways in which Pennsylvania can curb deaths and injuries from firearms without changing existing state laws.

An emotional speech from a Pittsburgh city councilman on Tuesday suggested that a new chapter in Pennsylvania’s preemption wars could soon begin.

Councilman Corey O’Connor (District 4) made a defiant speech during a council meeting, calling on the city to pass stricter gun laws—specifically against assault weapons—even in the face of state law and precedent on local legislation.

“You want to fight? We’re here to fight. Our community is here to fight,” O’Connor said at a council meeting. “I think our city, our nation everybody is ready to fight this. This has been a long time coming.”